After teasing its arrival last May, Dead Cross have lifted the curtain on their sophomore album. The punk supergroup will deliver II on October 28 via Ipecac Recordings.
Following the group's 2017 self-titled debut, the newly announced II is both a "raucous hardcore collection, and at times, a politically-charged opus," with roots in friendship, after bandmates Mike Patton, Justin Pearson (the Locust, Retox, Head Wound City) and Dave Lombardo (ex-Slayer, Testament, Mr. Bungle) rallied together following guitarist Michael Crain's (Retox, Festival of Dead Deer) unexpected cancer diagnosis.
"Words can't even begin to describe how much this album means to me. It's birthed of pain and uncertainty," Crain shared in a statement. "The slow, excruciatingly painful, and nauseating recovery from cancer treatments were the catalyst for every riff and note on this album. However, my will to live and be with my brothers Justin, Dave, Mike, and co-producer Ross Robinson, got me out of bed and running into the studio every day to get it all on tape."
"Reign of Error" is the first song from the effort to arrive, and you can hear it below alongside an accompanying video from Displaced/Replaced. Crain shares in a statement that the song was recorded almost as quickly as it was written, and believes the studio session carried a certain energy the day the track was cut.
"Those riffs flew out of me and when Dave sat down at his kit it was almost as if we'd played that song a thousand times before. It literally just happened so fast. Bam! One take. I'm not trying to paint a dark or fantasy-like story either. Having just escaped death and still healing from my cancer treatments I was incredibly sensitive to energy and the other side. There was someone else there. Not evil but benevolent and inspiring. I honestly believe it was Dave's old bandmate and friend [late Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman]. I think he just wanted to jam with his friend again and perhaps did so through me. There I said it. Whether people believe it or not I really don't care. I'm just grateful that I had that experience."
Speaking with Rolling Stone about the new album, frontman Patton addressed the mental health reasons that led him to bow out of tours with Faith No More and Mr. Bungle last year.
"It's still going on — but it's better," Patton shared. "It's easy to blame it on the pandemic. But I'll be honest, man: At the beginning of the pandemic, I was like, 'This is fucking great. I can stay home and record.' I've got a home studio. So I was like, 'Yeah, what's the big deal?' And then something clicked, and I became completely isolated and almost antisocial [and] afraid of people."
He continued: "That sort of anxiety, or whatever you want to call it, led to other issues, which I choose not to discuss. But I got some professionals helping me, and now I'm feeling better and getting closer to diving back in. Towards the end of the year, I'll be doing my first shows in, like, two years, which is the longest time since I started doing this, that I've been out of the game."
II is now available for pre-order.
II:
1. Love Without Love
2. Animal Espionage
3. Heart Reformer
4. Strong and Wrong
5. Ants and Dragon
6. Nightclub Canary
7. Christian Missile Crisis
8. Reign of Error
9. Imposter Syndrome
Following the group's 2017 self-titled debut, the newly announced II is both a "raucous hardcore collection, and at times, a politically-charged opus," with roots in friendship, after bandmates Mike Patton, Justin Pearson (the Locust, Retox, Head Wound City) and Dave Lombardo (ex-Slayer, Testament, Mr. Bungle) rallied together following guitarist Michael Crain's (Retox, Festival of Dead Deer) unexpected cancer diagnosis.
"Words can't even begin to describe how much this album means to me. It's birthed of pain and uncertainty," Crain shared in a statement. "The slow, excruciatingly painful, and nauseating recovery from cancer treatments were the catalyst for every riff and note on this album. However, my will to live and be with my brothers Justin, Dave, Mike, and co-producer Ross Robinson, got me out of bed and running into the studio every day to get it all on tape."
"Reign of Error" is the first song from the effort to arrive, and you can hear it below alongside an accompanying video from Displaced/Replaced. Crain shares in a statement that the song was recorded almost as quickly as it was written, and believes the studio session carried a certain energy the day the track was cut.
"Those riffs flew out of me and when Dave sat down at his kit it was almost as if we'd played that song a thousand times before. It literally just happened so fast. Bam! One take. I'm not trying to paint a dark or fantasy-like story either. Having just escaped death and still healing from my cancer treatments I was incredibly sensitive to energy and the other side. There was someone else there. Not evil but benevolent and inspiring. I honestly believe it was Dave's old bandmate and friend [late Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman]. I think he just wanted to jam with his friend again and perhaps did so through me. There I said it. Whether people believe it or not I really don't care. I'm just grateful that I had that experience."
Speaking with Rolling Stone about the new album, frontman Patton addressed the mental health reasons that led him to bow out of tours with Faith No More and Mr. Bungle last year.
"It's still going on — but it's better," Patton shared. "It's easy to blame it on the pandemic. But I'll be honest, man: At the beginning of the pandemic, I was like, 'This is fucking great. I can stay home and record.' I've got a home studio. So I was like, 'Yeah, what's the big deal?' And then something clicked, and I became completely isolated and almost antisocial [and] afraid of people."
He continued: "That sort of anxiety, or whatever you want to call it, led to other issues, which I choose not to discuss. But I got some professionals helping me, and now I'm feeling better and getting closer to diving back in. Towards the end of the year, I'll be doing my first shows in, like, two years, which is the longest time since I started doing this, that I've been out of the game."
II is now available for pre-order.
II:
1. Love Without Love
2. Animal Espionage
3. Heart Reformer
4. Strong and Wrong
5. Ants and Dragon
6. Nightclub Canary
7. Christian Missile Crisis
8. Reign of Error
9. Imposter Syndrome
